A long time ago in China, people had heard of a strange, amazing beast called an elephant from a faraway land, but no one had ever seen one. One day, a visiting ruler brought a live elephant as a gift to the Emperor.
No one in China had seen anything like it. After the guest left, it was all anyone at court could talk about.
"This elephant is bigger than a water buffalo!" said one mandarin.
"Are you kidding?" said a second. "It's bigger than a rhino!"
"You must be joking," said a third. "This elephant is bigger than TWO rhinos!"
One day, the Emperor asked his mandarins, "I want to know how much this amazing elephant weighs. Who can tell me how to weigh it?"
"I can!" said the first mandarin, a former merchant. "We will put it on a scale."
"Not likely," said the Emperor. "No scale could hold an elephant without breaking."
"I can!" said the second mandarin, a former tailor. "We will measure it."
"No," sighed the Emperor. "Measuring its parts won't tell us its weight."
"I can!" said the third mandarin, a former baker. "We will cut it up and cook it. Then we will know."
"We will surely NOT do that!" roared the Emperor. "Is there NO ONE who can tell me?"
Then a small voice said, "I can."
All eyes turned. It was the Emperor's young son!
"Son! You should be in bed," said the Emperor.
"But I know how," said the boy. "And we won't need to cook it first."
"Very well," smiled the Emperor. "Tell me."
The boy explained: "Put the elephant in a big boat on the water. Mark the waterline on the boat's side. Bring the boat back, take the elephant off, and load it with rocks, one by one. When the boat sinks to the same waterline, bring it ashore. Weigh all the rocks. Their total weight is the elephant's weight!"
"Wonderful!" everyone shouted.
"It will work!" called the first mandarin.
"What a clever plan!" said the second.
"Who knew this child would know?" said the third.
And the fame of the Emperor's clever son spread far and wide.